After 11 withdrawals, these two alternates are off and running at Farmers Insurance Open

Over the course of four days, 11 players withdrew from the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open. One by one, those slots got filled by alternates, up through Gary Woodland's WD on Wednesday morning just before the action started. That officially made it a 155-man field. During the first round, Braden Thornberry made it an even dozen players to pull out.

The field at Torrey Pines for the fourth event on the PGA Tour's 2025 schedule is still stocked with big names, including first-round leader Ludvig Aberg, who shot a 9-under 63 on the North course, but many were not high on the leaderboard through 18 holes.

Hideki Matsuyama (4-under 68) is tied for 18th. Keegan Bradley (3-under 69) is tied for 29th. Sahith Theelaga (1-under 71) is tied for 65th. Defending champion Mathieu Pavon (1-over 73) is tied for 100th. Max Homa (5-over 77) is tied for 146th.

Two of the Farmers alternates, however, are off to a great start.

Hayden Springer, the first one to get in off a WD after Nicolai Hojgaard backed out, opened with an eagle on his first hole, the par-5 10th on the North course, and had six other birdies in his 7-under 65 round. That has him tied for second alongside Danny Walker, whose 65 was the best score on the South course on Wednesday.

"Really nice to start with an eagle and then birdied 11 as well. You can't ask for a better start than to be 3 under through two," Springer said. "Kind of got me off to a good start, feeling good. We just kind of played solid. And really I tried to keep it on the correct side all day and we did a really good job of that."

Springer wasn't in the initial field a week ago at the American Express and ultimately never got the call. This week, things worked out for him to play.

"It's hard to know what tournaments I was going to get into," he said. "We were kind of looking at it and it was looking like I'd be in here, so I was sort of planning to be here. But yeah, I mean, for right now it's nice to get a start and to be able to play. I had gone out to Palm Springs last week and was first alternate. It's nice to be here and to get a start."

S.H. Kim is tied for eighth after his 5-under 67 on the North course. He was the third alternate, making the field when Tyler McCumber withdrew Sunday.

The Farmers has a purse of $9.3 million with a first-place check of $1.674 million and while there's a long way to go till Saturday's final round, these alternates are off and running in La Jolla.

But there are many guys who have to go week-to-week on the outside looking in, hoping for a chance and knowing if they get one, they have to make the most of it.

"I'm going to try to be as ready as possible to take advantage of the starts that I do get," Spring said. "At the end of the day, if I can play well, that should open up some more opportunities for me as well."

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Hayden Springer among alternates making most of spot in PGA Tour event